


Flying with Dragons

by Kiumari



Category: Street Fighter
Genre: Action/Adventure and a bit of Romance, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Monster Hunters, Ambiguous Relationships, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst/Fluff and bits of Hurt/Comfort, Attempt at Humor, Awkward Conversations, Awkward Crush, Awkward Tension, Awkwardness, Battle Couple, Blood and Injury, Companions, Complicated Relationships, Confessions, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Cuddling & Snuggling, Denial of Feelings, Developing Relationship, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Dorkiness, Dorks, Emotional Roller Coaster, Eventual Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Forehead Kisses, Forehead Touching, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Hugs, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I keep changing and adding tags I'm so sorry, Living Together, Love Confessions, Major Character Injury, Male-Female Friendship, Mentor/Protégé, Minor Character Death, My First AO3 Post, Neck Kissing, No Smut, Not Beta Read, Nudity, One-sided to Mutual Pining, Partial Nudity, Partners in Crime, Partners to Lovers, Pillow Talk, Sleeping Together, Suggestive Themes, Tenderness, Watching Someone Sleep, a literal isekai featuring these two dumbfucks cause I love them so much, and they were training partners, master/student, oh my god they were training partners, so many fic tropes rolled into one, they're both disasters lol, yes I had to put a vine reference XD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:41:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26678410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiumari/pseuds/Kiumari
Summary: After a final battle, (that might've torn a hole of time and space) they end up in a world unfamiliar to their own. They have to navigate with no one else but each other through all the monsters and dragons.Chaos ensues for the pair, including their growing relationship(?), feelings are confusing.They have two choices, accept their new life here or find a way back home. What will they choose?Inspired by the Monster Hunter World x Street Fighter collab
Relationships: Minor or Background Relationship(s), Ryu (Street Fighter) & Kasugano Sakura, Ryu (Street Fighter)/Kasugano Sakura
Comments: 9
Kudos: 9





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I made a fic of these two because there's rarely any and these two are adorable, (both romantically and platonically) it's legal now I guess.  
> And yes, the Monster Hunter World x Street Fighter collab gave me way too many ideas.
> 
> Oh btw, this is actually my first fic on the site, (I should've put it in the first place instead of four chapters in, but too late now) so...expect some mediocrity. (I guess I've written worst. *ahem* Wattpad.)

Moments flashed by like a blur as chaos unfolded, the scene was blinding with light obscuring parts of it, debris disintegrates and fades away. 

They were descending deeper, at increasing speeds. 

He saw a woman holding his hand tightly, tears streaming down her cheeks, and refusing to let go.

As he's losing consciousness, he felt a tight grip surrounding his body and a female voice called to him;

“Ryu-san, Please hang in there!” 

“ _RYU-SAN!_ ” 

The last word heard was an echo and his vision turned pitch black. 


	2. A Whole Nother World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shortly, after the world looked like it fell apart, Sakura wakes up to find Ryu unconscious trying to wake him up, hoping he's not dead.

“Ryu-san, Ryu-san!” She called out to him in desperation beside him, shaking him slightly.

His vision regained colour and started to gain consciousness. He sat up twitching his eyes and forcing them open.

“Ryu-san, Are you okay?!” Sakura leaned towards Ryu to get a better look at him.

“Yeah,” He groaned as he put his hand on the side of his temple from pulsating pain. He struggled to sit up while Sakura was there holding him up for support.

“Thank god!” She hugged him in a state of relief, tears welling up in her eyes. Caught up in the moment, he smiled in return and slowly hugged back, also glad she was alright aside from minor injuries inflicted upon them. 

“Where the heck are we?” Sakura asked as they examined the area that they appeared in.

“In a jungle, somewhere,” he replied. 

They were in a little clearing where the sun shined brightly below them. 

The jungle was filled with lush greens, rich brown trees with vines hungover, bushes of what seems similar to banana leaves and moss scattered about on the ground and roots. Birds chirping, cicada cries and animal calls could be heard in the distance. 

“How did we make it out there alive?” Confused about how they got there. There was an awkward silence.

“I don’t know, but we’re here now that’s what matters.” He replied cluelessly as she is.

Then it dawns on them, “Crap!” they both left their belongings behind. 

“We have nothing on us!” Sakura exclaimed. 

“Well, that’s just great,” Ryu responds sarcastically. The duffle bag he always carries with him is gone and probably stuck in some rubble somewhere.

“So, What are we going to do?” 

He paused for a second. “Find somewhere safe, for now.” 

“Looks like we better get going then,” 

They both stood up and continued on their journey to “somewhere” whatever that might be. Sakura runs ahead feeling hopeful and enthusiastic about being on this journey and Ryu following behind feeling both determined and cautious for what's to come. 


	3. Inconveniences

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first part of their first day in the new world, which happens to be a long and rough one at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think being in a fantasy world is all sunshine and rainbows, yeah you'd be wrong.  
> It's like nature, beautiful, but deadly.

The fighters wandered for what seemed like hours around the jungle to the point they might’ve been going in circles back to the same clearing they started at; 

Back at square one. 

“Oh, How many times have we been back here?” Sakura groaned in frustration. 

“Uh, 3 or 4 times?” Ryu answered with uncertainty. 

“Great, we wouldn’t be able to get out this now,” 

“Wait.” Sakura’s face lights up as she thinks of this idea.

“What is it?” He asked curiously.

“Lift me.” 

“Huh?” 

“So I can get a better view up there.” She points to the tallest tree she could find which looks to be around 20 to 25 feet.

He sighed and reluctantly agreed, “Just be careful, Ok?” The last thing he wanted was her getting hurt and the last thing she wanted was to make him worry. 

Ryu kneels and lends his hands, Sakura steps up bit by bit, from his arms to his shoulders, once she got up both of his shoulders, she grabs the closest branch and pulls herself on the trunks. She slowly climbs her way up channelling ki in both her hands and feet. 

Ryu looks up attentively just in case she falls. Sakura shook the tree that birds on the branches flew off, scattering about and some leaves fell. 

Making halfway there, she grabbed on a branch and tripped on the one below her, a good thing that her hand didn’t slip. Ryu noticed her hanging. 

“Are you ok?!” He yelled up from below. 

“I’m fine, I just slipped!” She yelled down from above. 

(“Geez, this girl,”) Her clumsiness would be the death of her. 

Finally, she made the top with bits of leaves in her hair. Scouring the area, putting her left hand over her eyes to prevent the sun from blinding her and her

right to hold the tip of the tree. She spots a few buildings that look to be a town. 

“Hey, there’s a town nearby!” she points in the direction it’s at, northwest from where she’s standing. 

We can find help there!” She leans forward slowly and slips suddenly, “Gah!” for a split second, she realizes she might die. 

(“Oh no.”) 

Falling 25 feet in the air screaming, closing her eyes and meeting her fate, Ryu acted quickly and caught her in time bridal style. If he was a second too late, she would've been dead.

Sakura looked in the eyes of her saviour, seeing him with a worried looked, sensitive eyes and narrowed eyebrows. There was more to his hard exterior than he was showing. She was staring at him for a good few seconds, it felt like an eternity. Realizing how quiet it has gotten, her face got red and breaks silence, “Oh, thanks,” is all she could muster. 

“No problem.” Ryu lets go and Sakura gets off safely. 

“You should’ve been more careful,” He scolded. “Maybe a balancing lesson would help,” 

“I know,” She pouted. “And I thought you wouldn’t train me because you were inexperienced or too busy,” 

“It’s true, I’m no more of a student than you are, plus I think it would be a good starting point.” He did make a few points.

“All right, She turned away with a heel “Whatever you say, **_Master_** ,” she glanced at him and smiled smugly. 

(“Did she just-”) She called him “Master” much to his annoyance. 

“Sakura, I told you to stop calling that,” 

“Really, when was that?”

“The first time we met,”

“Exactly, it was only one time, Besides you should really stop downplaying yourself on your skills and accept that you're strong,” 

“What makes you say that?

“I saw true strength with my own eyes, you rejecting the Satsui no Hadou was enough to prove me that,” She turns to him and smiled. 

Ryu looks stunned, (“How much faith does she have in me, and why me out of all fighters?”) “Well I still to-” 

“Come on, the town is that way!” She turned around stepping away, pointing ahead. 

“Wait!” He held his hand out stopping her in her tracks. They stood in place and glanced around the area hearing rustles in the bushes, someone is here. 

Coming out of the bushes are five indigo raptor-looking creatures screeching at them like they finally found their meal. 

(“You gotta be kidding me,”) Both of them stared at the raptors with dread, they might’ve heard their entire conversation from a mile away. 

Ryu got into a fighting stance, 

“Ready for your first lesson?” He grins and glances at Sakura. 

“Yep, Let’s Bring it!” She caught her fist into her hand, soon followed into a fighting stance, glancing and grinned in return. 

“You get two and I get three,” 

“Got it!” She nods.

So it begins.

* * *

Ryu takes on the one on his left, charging towards him letting a war cry. He closes his eyes, channelling his ki until his hands glow a fiery sky blue and when it gets close, he strikes it with a karate chop to the neck.

“Hooyah!” The impact was so hard its neck snapped with a cracking sound before dropping to the floor. 

The second one that was on his right tried to sneak attack from behind, Ryu turned around to hurl a hurricane kick as a counter-attack,

“Tatsumaki Senpukyaku!”

He disoriented the raptor, now while it was off guard.

“Shoryuken!” He uppercut while in the air right in the jaw as a finisher.

It flew back, landing side first on the ground scraping against the ground where it left grooves in the dirt with its jaw hanging open.

Meanwhile, when Ryu took care of that, Sakura charged headfirst into combat attacking the one on her right, which startled the poor thing.

“Hough!” She right hooked it at the side of the head where the temple is, making it dizzy.

The raptor tries to grab a hold of itself, is met with a horrible surprise, Sakura steps back a few feet, jumps and dive kicks it hard,

"Yoisho!" It buries a hole, head first in the ground suffocating from it. She steps over the corpse fumbling and catching herself while doing so. 

The other one on her left was in a state of shock, paralyzed in fear.

“Time to put it out of its misery then,” She low kicks it, making it trip and jumps up with all her force, arms in the air and ground pounds it, crushing its skull from the pressure.

She leaps off, rolling landing one knee and one hand on the ground. 

The last and fifth one standing, witnessing a homicide of its pack flees, screeching out of fear back in the bushes and trees.

“Well, there it goes,” She said in disappointment. 

“Leave it, I think we did enough already,”

Nice moves, by the way, you did well,” Ryu congratulates her, putting his hand on her shoulder. 

“Oh, hehe thanks, it was nothing,” She was flattered that he recognized her strength, scratching the back of her head nervously. 

“You’d surpass me no time, if you’d work on some things,”

“The balancing stuff again, well you’re no fun.” Sakura joked teasingly, but he does a point.

“But as a start, it’s good we’ll keep training from now on ok?”

“Okay!” She nods attentively.

“Now with that,” Ryu and Sakura turned looking at the carnage they created, dead raptor bodies and dirt piles littering the ground.

“Well, what are we going to do with that?”

Ryu’s stomach growls, “Hmm,” he groans in hunger. 

“We could make food out of it may be,” she suggested.

“But we don’t have any equipment on us remember, besides how are we going to carry these while we’re trying to get to town?” 

“Oh yeah, that,” She felt dumb forgetting.

“Hold on a second,” He walks to one of the trees, pulling on the vines until it ripped. “We could use these.” 

“Ryu-san, you’re a genius!” She cheered.

They gathered some more vines and tied their hands, legs and jaws together.

“Ready for your second lesson?”

“Yep!” She grabs on two vines of each she killed as Ryu lugs both vines over his shoulder. 

“This is a simple test of endurance and it will end when we get there.”

“All right, the town’s that way,” She pointed in the direction ahead of them and they continued onwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, this was originally and the next chapter(s) was supposed to be a long big one, but I splitted it for pacing and consistency sake.  
> I hope the action scenes weren't super brutal or over the top, but they probably were.


	4. New Surroundings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second part of their first day. They enter town with new side characters (NPCS in a sense) and lore introduced (somewhat).  
> They decide to take on a new quest by the end of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried world building to the best of my abilities without boring you too much, because exposition dumps are annoying at times.  
> There's probably so many errors in this, so please let me know!
> 
> Here's my long awaited *late* christmas present, enjoy!

After a 20-minute walk of dragging corpses in the dirt, they finally made it. 

The town was small with a handful of residents, little shops down in two little rows, little merchant huts on the side across from them and two shops across them in the back. The buildings were white with dark grey roofs, a leaderboard of some sort and a building that reads ‘Town Hall’ on the side to their left, a tour guide booth to their right.

“Hello There, Fellow Travellers,” the tour guide, a hefty, curly, dirty blonde guy with a yellow robe, orange pants and beret came out of the booth greeting joyfully. 

Are you new around here?” 

They both turn to each other. 

“Uhh, yes we were looking for a shop around here that sells gear and these,”

She holds out the vines of the tied-up monsters they defeated. 

He examined them from head to toe, with the corpses they dragged alongside them. 

“Ah, fellow monster hunters I assume,” He didn’t bat an eye at them even with their foreign-looking costumes slightly tattered.

“The shop is that way,” he points across town and they turn to see a yellow sign that reads ‘Adventure Awaits! Tools and Camping gear’ 

“And you could sell your captures and actually get meat and money from it,” He points to the butcher shop beside it a light blue sign with reading, ‘Cold cuts and Meats Butchery’ “So I recommend the butcher beside it first, raptor skewers a staple food around here,” 

He hands him a yellowed aged scroll and a pamphlet with 'Welcome to Russell Town' as the title. “Here’s a pamphlet for Russell Town, and a map of Vallhara,” 

“Enjoy your visit,” He waved goodbye and went on his way.

“Huh, he was surprisingly friendly,” 

“Yeah, this town seems nice.” 

“And we got a map too, Vallhara huh.” He rolls it out to see that the map is mostly blank, shaded silhouettes covering important landmarks titled with three question marks except for the places they walk through earlier, filled in colour. She takes a peek.

“Hmm, strange.” He looked at it puzzled, turning it from different angles.

“What do you think those landmarks mean?”

“I don’t know, we’ll see later,”

“Well, Time to sell these!”

* * *

They walked into the butchery shop door with the corpses and a bell rang as they entered. 

“Hmm, what do we have here?” The store clerk turned to the entrance to see the pair with raptor captures. He was a heavyset guy, long curly black hair with a bushy beard, hairy arms with a blue t-shirt, a blood-stained apron and a blue and white bandana wrapped around his head. 

The clear display case had pre-cut meats, a scale on top and a counter beside it and a cash register above it. The backsplash was a checkered blue and with metal bars and stools.

“We got these!” She held one of them up proudly like a trophy. 

“Sakura.” He snatches it off from her arms and she looks up at him agape.

“Excuse her, we got these to sell and turn into food,” 

“I can sell you these for 25 gold per catch which would be 100 gold with the four you got.” 

(“25 gold for each?!”) They stood there in shock and glanced at each other.

“We’ll take the offer,” He concluded. 

“All right, We got our deal and you two look a little hungry, why not try some skewers?” 

“Sure, we hadn’t eaten anything since we got here,”

Both of their stomachs growled on cue as he said that.

“This would take 45 minutes to prepare, hope you could wait?”

“Sure, we’ll wait,”

* * *

They walked outside to explore a bit of town, looking at the other little shops they offered, empty lots with signs of events of an annual harvest festival coming up and took a closer look at the leaderboard with different quests and jobs with rewards varying in amounts of gold. There villagers conversing, shopping around in each of the stores and markets and roaming around.

“Wow, this must be so busy,” Sakura commented.

“This is a port town where other hunters and merchants from neighbouring villages come to trade,” 

“Hm?” They turned to see the tour guide from earlier. 

“Oh sorry, didn’t mean to jump in, I believe I didn’t introduce myself yet, My name is Lewis,” He holds his hands out for a handshake and they both gave out a handshake back. 

“We hadn’t any other hunters for a while now, you are the newer ones that came by,”

“What happened to the others?”

“Some came, but never returned home,”

“Do you mean they-”

“Unfortunately, yes,” He looks down disheartened.

“There’s a graveyard of some the heroes and citizens over in the corner of town,”

He points in the direction it’s in. 

“Pay your respects and offerings if you can,”

“We will,” They both nodded.

* * *

They start walking to the site, hidden behind some trees. They ducked below the branches, rustling by and came out of an opening. 

“Woah,” 

The entrance of the site was a fancy black metal gate, a long black metal fence guarding the area. Some parts of the gate were unhinged and slanted, slightly creaking from side to side. Sakura opened it wider so they could pass and entered.

The atmosphere was melancholy but calm at the same time. The air feels cold and breezy. Birds chirping, nestled in the trees was the only thing keeping the mood from being depressing. The grass was deep emerald green and small flower buds were blooming about. Some of the graves and tombstones were blank, unmarked with scribes of the person or people that rest here. While some were marked with names of citizens that seem unfamiliar, deaths by natural, accidental or unknown causes. There were small bowls of offering left on the edges of some of the graves and stumps on trees, gold, flowers, pieces of stale food, trinkets, incense partly burnt and even little toys for the children who also died. 

“So there you are, I was looking for you two and Lewis told me that you were here.” 

They turn around to see the butcher at the entrance from earlier with a plate of skewers in his hands. 

“Here, have a bite.”

“Thank you, ” they both took a skewer each and clasp their hands in prayer.

“Itadakimasu!” They cheered before eating it quickly.

“Mmm, these are so good!” She eats as talks with her mouth full, covering slightly. “What’s your secrets?”

“Well,” He chuckled a bit. “That is a secret I won’t be telling you.”

“Really, I’m curious!” she insisted.

“All right,” he reluctantly agrees. “I put special spices in this to make it tasty, that’s all I’m telling you,” 

“Ok, good enough. We have something similar to this back home,”

He was a bit concerned, but not surprised.

“You’re not from around here are you, this _world_ I mean?” 

“No, we’re not,” Ryu responds and sighs. “it’s a long story,” 

“Well, we are no strangers to new visitors, even from beyond this world,”

“So, it’s 'normal' then,” Sakura chimed in.

“Yeah, just hasn’t been common lately,” 

He observes their appearances, similar eye colours, similar facial features and skin complexion, one albeit a little paler, one being a young brunette, the other being darker and older by a few years, same red headbands and boxing gloves, a slight height difference and the guy wore martial arts garments, while the lady was wearing a hostess outfit. 

“Are you guys siblings by any chance?” 

Their eyes shifted toward each other stunned.

“Uhh, no we’re actually friends,” she clears it up quickly before it got awkward. In hindsight, they did have similar appearances and are debatable in interactions, so it isn’t completely out of the question to assume that. 

“Do you two have a thing, then?” he asked hesitantly. 

“Uhhhh,” Their eyes widen and turned away from each other, the young lady’s face turned beet red, tapping her fingers anxiously and the older guy blushes slightly, arm rubbing behind his neck. It’s still embarrassing either way. 

“Hmph, I got my answer,” The butcher looks at them with a snarky grin on his face and nods. 

“You should give these skewers as an offering while you’re here, I got more at the shop,” He hands him the plate of the remaining skewers.

“Right, thank you,” he placed it on the nearby gravestone. 

“No problem, the name’s Rick.”

They exited out of the graveyard and closed the gate behind them. 

“That made me feel much better than before, thank you so much,” Ryu said with gratitude. 

“No need, You can stop by the shop and have a chat whenever you like,” 

He hands out two pouches of 50 gold each to split between the two of them.

“And here your payment for the captures,”

“Thank you so much, Rick, we owe you big time!” Sakura exclaimed. 

“Again, No problem, Have a nice day.”

“You too.” They waved goodbye and parted ways. 

“Well, that concludes that lesson.”

“We even got money from that too,” She beamingly holds up the pouch of 50 gold in her hands. “We should probably get some equipment now,” 

“Right, I’ll see if there are any quests we could take,” They split off for now. 

* * *

Sakura walked in the store to see equipment and camping gear galore, hell even clothes. 

(“Wow, they sure got a lot of stuff,”) 

It was arranged in order of each type of items on stands, racks and shelves by the walls in each area of the store, each item is displayed with the price tags on the side. It feels like a cozy cabin in the middle of the woods. With the browns, greens, dark yellows, most of the furniture is made out of and smell of pine and cedarwood. It’s nice, to say the least, well, except with the moose head displayed on the wall that intimidated her a bit.

She looked around the store looking for what she needs, obviously, she doesn’t have a lot of money, so there is a limit on the amount she buys. So she grabbed a bunch of items, two backpacks, matches, two sleeping bags, a fishing rod, an emergency kit, an oil lantern, a dagger and a big blanket that might’ve been too much to carry. (oops) The store clerk saw her struggling and offered to help. 

“Hold on, let me help you!” She grabbed some items and placed them on the counter. 

“Oh, Thank you!” 

“No problem, call me Abbie!” The short-haired, blue-eyed blond in a ponytail with a dull yellow tracksuit smiled.

After prepping stuff at the checkout, She served her at the cash register.

“All right, that would be 46 gold,” 

“Okay,” She dumped most of my gold, keeping four bunched up in her pouch. 

Abbie looked bombarded with how she was willing to spend, even if it means her pouch being nearly empty. 

“That’s all?”

“Yep.”

“Here, have a few free bonuses.” She hands her a bobble for the fishing rod. “Just a few little surprises I throw every once in a while and the bottles are filled with water, don’t worry, I thought an Adventurer and her partner may need some refreshments especially if your work is taxing since you came in empty-handed.”

“How do you know?” Sakura looks baffled by the extra stuff she gave her.

“Oh, Lewis told me, he asked to provide you with other things just in case you need it,” She winks at her with a smile.

“Thank you again.” She packs all the small items in the backpacks, a canteen in each, bundles the blanket and fishing in hand. 

“Have a nice day!” They waved goodbye and she went on her way.

* * *

Ryu looked around the leaderboard for new quests, again. 

“Nothing,” He scoured through the leaderboard once more just in case, until something caught his eye.

“Huh,” A missing poster. It wasn’t there last time he checked. He pulled it out of the board with staples still on the board and paper torn at the edges. It read in bold letters;

> **MISSING**
> 
> **DEAD OR ALIVE**
> 
> Adventurers were last seen on the entrance of Russell Town.
> 
> Last recounts of them being treasure hunters that said they were going to the mountains mining for gold
> 
> **Reward: 15000 gold**

It featured busts of three guys. The two guys on the sides looked lankier and younger, each with headgear, one had a pair of goggles one with a blue bandana and the other guy in the middle with a buzz cut and a scar through his right brow and eye, all three had stubbled shaved beards. The physical traits listed corresponded with each of the men. Their names listed on the pictures below were Mark, Doug and Al respectfully. 

“Hm, guess we should go investigate,” 

“Hey, I got the stuff we needed!” Sakura runs towards him cheerfully as usual.

He just stared, awestruck. “Sakura, what did you-”

The stuff she carrying is a stuffed backpack on her shoulders, an extra backpack in one arm and a bundled blanket in the other and a fishing rod in her hand. 

“Don’t tell me you spent all your gold there,” 

“Well, almost,” She chuckled nervously. “I got four left,” She pulls out her pouch and showed the four remaining gold pieces, at least she had something other than nothing at all.

“You manage to get stuff we need inside that?” He pointed to the backpack she’s holding, hoping she at least got the necessities.

“Yeah I did,” She hands him the backpack and he opened the flap to peek inside. 

Just a bunch of small items, a dagger, an emergency kit, a capsule of waterproof matches, a canteen which he assumed is filled with water, a tiny bobble for a fishing rod and an oil lantern. At least she did.

“What’s the blanket for?” He tilts his head towards the blanket.

“That’s too...keep us warm at night,” 

Ryu just raises his eyebrow. “Ok,”

Sakura was a little relieved he didn’t question her any more than that.

“I found something and think we should look further into it,”

He shows her the missing poster and she peaks to read it.

“Missing peoples’ case?” 

“Yeah, It said they were last seen here before going to the mountains a few days ago,”

“Where do you think that might be?”

Ryu looks ahead in the direction they came from. There was a couple of mountain ranges faded in the background above all trees with the top being covered with thick, dense clouds.

“Do you think it might be there, it seems pretty vague?”

“There’s only one way to find out,” 

They nod in agreement with a new quest to accomplish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this and the previous chapter and the next chapter supposing to be one, this was definitely a better choice for pacing so I don't throw so much info at once. 
> 
> I was also going to make it 1st person when Sakura was buying stuff at the store and Ryu at the leaderboard, but I didn't feel it was necessary.
> 
> Plus, it did take a while to write this (Like what 2-3 months since the last update?) and I hope it paid off. 
> 
> I want to draw illustrations for this fic for better visualization, but that won't be for a while.


	5. Bloody Battles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The third part of their first day. They take on a new quest and realized it's worse than they thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where shit takes a turn for the worst.  
> This is also quite graphic, I put it in the tags for a reason.

They walked toward the mountains with Sakura holding up the map, looking down as the path appears, fading in slowly with colour.

“Oh, I think we’re getting somewhere!” She looks up excitingly and runs down the path. They came closer to the mountain as it’s becoming more visible and detailed.

“Wow!”

The mountain looked huge compared to afar, there was a bunch of trees hanging by the edges with a few little openings to the caves and one big cave that had bits of rubble blocking the entrance.

“I think this is it,” They look around it for any signs of people.

They noticed huge boulders on the right side of the base with a steep ramp of the mountain behind it.  
With a bit of debris surrounding the boulder, they discovered something horrific.

“Oh my God!”

“What the Hell Happened?”

One covered her mouth in shock as the other had his jaw dropped.

There were three bodies dishevelled and ashy, all leaving a puddle of blood behind with cuts bleeding out. One laid on the ground face first in the dirt, a guy had his legs crushed by one of the boulders and one guy is limp sitting upon a ledge of the mountain.

“Wait!” He pulled up the missing poster and tried matching each of the faces to the poster. Sakura checked the guy that was facedown by lifting his head gently off the ground.

“Is it them?” She asked him with Ryu taking a closer look. He brought it up for comparison of each.

“Yep, seems like it.”

The guy faced down was Al and the guy that was crushed was Doug. They looked to be unconscious, maybe even dead. Who knows how long they’ve been here, days or weeks maybe, from the dry blood on their clothes. They check their pulses on their wrists if they’re still alive,

“No pulse, you?”

“Nothing.”

They were stumped, but there was one more person to check.

Right on cue, the guy that being Mark, groans, twitching in pain.

They walked towards him and tried conversing with him,

“Hey, are you ok?” They kneeled beside him and waited patiently.

“Yeah, a bit...” His voice was hoarse as if he has trouble breathing.

“Do you remember how long you been here?”

“I don’t know… a few days maybe?”

He starts coughing blood with some still dripping from his head and mouth.

“Easy there, we’re here to help,” Sakura helped to prop him up for support.

“There’s no need. It may be too late.”

“Can you at least tell us what happened?” Ryu asked wanting answers.

“We- We were mining in the cave for gold, and we heard a growl in the cave,”

They both stayed silent and he continued.

“It roared and all three of us ran out, It came marching toward us, I looked over my shoulder to see a pair of reptilian eyes,”

(“A dragon?!”) They can only imagine as such.

“I only heard it from stories from how they’re monsters of the mountains and never saw them with my own eyes, until now…” His voice starts trembling. 

“It nearly caught us, but the cave entrance was too small to get past,”

That could explain the amount of rubble at the entrance.

“We were outside and trying to catch our breath until something attacked from above,”

“What was it?”

“Another Dragon appeared,”

“And,” He sighs. “You probably know the rest…” Their heads turn to the gruesome scene they encountered moments before.

“I sat here waiting if anyone would find me, and you did,”

“Please...tell my family I love them…” His hand tries to reach out shaking, but falls limp and eventually passes, succumbing to his injuries.

“He’s gone,” Sakura looks at the person with a solemn expression.

“Let him rest,”

“So what are we going to do now?”

“Take it down.”

“Huh, Really!?”

“Another Challenge, isn’t it?”

“Mmhmm!”

They look up at the mountain determined on avenging these fellow adventurers, but at what cost?

* * *

They travelled up the ramp leading to the higher ground of the mountain. As they get higher, the land below them became distant, breathtaking even. Sakura scoured around the area in awe as Ryu watched her with a smirk.

“Nice view, isn’t it?”

“Yep, it’s a nice feeling on top of the world!” She lifts her arms in the air feeling the cool breeze.

“Don’t forget what we’re here for,” He put his hand on her shoulder and direct

“Right!” She turns to him nodding assertively.

They keep marching up the mountain and encounter something of interest. It was a bunch of Rubble and debris blocking a bit of trail that looked similar to the one below earlier. 

“Something's here,” Ryu noted of what Mark mentioned earlier.

“The dragon?”

“I think so,” he instinctively prepared himself into a fighting stance and motioned Sakura to stay back, peaking out of the wall. They both sense something dreadful nearby.

The atmosphere was uncomfortable and mixed with anxiety didn’t make things any better. Their ears picked up on a low snarl gradually turned to a growl, sniffing, huffing and stomping making the earth shake, and even pebbles jumped. Slowly, a head peered through the jagged walls sensing intruders.

Upon further inspection, The beast was huge in comparison to them its head as large as the damage it presumably caused, the scales a fiery, crimson red. The Dragon’s head rotated looming over them, amber eyes feral and furious and Its eyes locked with theirs. It was at that moment they knew they were screwed. 

_“Oh shit."_

The reptilian eyes dilate as it draws its first breath. 

“GET DOWN!”

They ducked behind some rock pillars as flame crept up from the open, barely touching them from the outside. A fog of smoke and dust clouds up the area as the duo sputters, coughing some ash that got into their lungs and patting bits that stained their clothes.

“Crap, how do we get through?”

“We should take a shot while the fog is still clearing up,”

“Okay!”

Dropping their bags, they creep out of the rock pillars and mask themselves in the fog and make out the dragon’s silhouette within the battlefield.

As the fog clears up, the two cup their hands and charge their ki until it forms a blue fireball.

“Hadouken!” They each threw a projectile, cutting through the dust clouds and hitting the dragon in the face. The ki blast erupted, shaking the mountain as the two braced themselves for the aftershock.

The dragon cried from the blows and roared in excruciating pain, shaking its heads, blinking and twitching its eyes profusely. Ryu and Sakura took notice of this and also noticed the shifting eye colours between maroon and purple, and a dark purple aura forming around the creature. 

“What is that?” 

“I don’t know, but it doesn’t good,”

It is under the influence of something evil, but of what kind? Who knows.

The dragon regains its self-control but enraged like never before, its piercing glare shines a purple streak and it snarls.

The dragon screeched, rotating itself, whipping its tail to make an attack. It headed towards them. 

Sakura gasped as she had no time to react as the tail was about to strike.

Ryu covered for her and took the hit, hearing a bone pop. He blocked the attack with his forearm, now bloodied with cuts and punctures. 

“Tch,” Ryu hisses in pain and holds his forearm seeing all the wounds inflicted on him, feeling spasms throughout.

“Ryu~san!” Sakura cries trying to tend to his wounds.

"Stay back!" He still interjects despite the pain he’s in.

The dragon kept charging at Ryu as he tried to defend himself, pulling punches and kicks.

Witnessing him struggle was too much to bear, she has to take action, **now**.

She views the environment as a possible solution.

Her face lights up at this idea using the rock walls as a guide, she could attack from higher ground and get the upper hand. She took that initiative as a final decision.

Ryu was still keeping the dragon at bay, but losing pace. His momentum was lowering, He witnesses Sakura climbing up the pillars of the higher floors.

“Sakura, what are you-”

The dragon took this chance while his guard was lowered to gain the advantage. Its snout flips Ryu, now in midair, to catch him in between its teeth. He lands straight in its mouth as Its jaw crunches down his bones and through his rib cage. 

“Arrgh!” He felt an immense jolt of pain coursing throughout his entire body as he lays limp and quails.

“NO!” She screamed terrified but was too far to help.

The dragon tossed his body, discarding him like a bone, sending him tumbling. He rolled on the ground lying face first in the dirt.

The dragon shrieks as Ryu tries to stand back up jittering. He now has several bite marks imprinted in his flesh bleeding out and tears that shredded his gi.

Wheezing, he wipes off the blood dripping from his mouth and spits the remaining out.

He kept his composure crouching into a racing stance, took a skip forward and made a mid-dash towards it. He charged in with all of his might into a devastating uppercut, 

“SHORYUKEN!”

It knocks out the dragon backwards blasting its jaw, spewing blood. It stumbles, losing its balance letting out an ear-piercing scream. Ryu covered his ear from the sheer volume and Sakura closed one eye gritting her teeth.

He even crosses into a punishing hurricane kick to finish his combo,

“TATSUMAKI SEMPUYAKU!”

The dragon took multiple kicks to the side of the head and fell back first into a wall, causing stones, pebbles and dust to fall from above.

Sakura prepares herself to finish this once and for all as she leaps of faith, pounding the top of its head.

The dragon was in agony after that hit and starts flailing around, Sakura flings herself high in the air executing a leapfrog and latches onto the dragon’s tail.

“Ahhh! Woah!” Sakura was being swung by the dragon tail’s as she tries to hang on, nearly slipping. Looking up ahead at the dragon’s back, she spotted something peculiar.

“Huh, What’s that? She squints harder at the object poking out of the dragon’s side.

It was a spear of some kind, a silver blade, navy blue and gold accents. It was etched in the dragon’s scales and seeping some glowing purple magic(?), whatever it was it must’ve caused a lot of hurt to the creature.

“Poor thing,” She pitied the dragon, the moves they pulled probably made things worse.

The dragon miffed at the fact Sakura was still clinging on to them, did the only thing they could do, swing her off. They launched Sakura so hard and so far, her life flashed before her eyes. 

_“SAKURA!”_

She flew back first into a jagged rock wall making an impact, coughing up blood and snapping her back. She started to blackout as her senses were becoming distorted, ringing, echoes in her ears, vertigo and nausea. Cuts on her head, legs and arms were bleeding out.

Backed against a wall paralyzed, she wondered, (“Is this it, am I going to die?”)

She counted down on all treasured memories and moments that happened up to this point, what she accomplished and what she couldn’t, all because of one mistake.

(“Ryu, I’m sorry, I couldn’t tell you how much I felt, I wouldn’t mind being stuck here because I’m with you, it didn’t matter, going on these adventures, and being close to you was enough for me, please tell my friends and family that I loved them when you get back,”) she closes her eyes and falls limp.

“NO!” he screams out horrified. He needs to do something quickly.

The dragon cries out, fumbling from the blow from Sakura. Ryu throws a Hadouken above the dragon, raining rocks and debris crashing down above them. The rocks fell on the dragon, blocking the way and preventing the creature from going further as Ryu throws the bag straps on his shoulders, carries Sakura bridal style, and retreats. Ryu got out safely, but in rough condition and Sakura, there is no telling if she’ll survive.

“Please Sakura, just don’t die on me,” he mutters, tearing up, as he struggles to go down the mountain.

His body was aching from the injuries moments ago, but he can’t stop now, not with a life on the line.  
He stumbles down to the mountain, catching himself at the bottom and trucks back to town passing by the jungle, wary of any monsters nearby.

Sakura opened her eyes and she tilted her head slightly, resting on his chest, the light was blinding her so she could barely see, her senses still very dull, numb and noises were barely audible. Ryu didn’t pay attention due to being focused on the task at hand. She couldn’t process what was going on, she closed her eyes back because the pain was unbearable.

Ryu finally made it back to safety, citizens of Russell starred and soon chatter broke out,

“Oh my god!”

“Are they okay?”

“What happened to her?”

“What’s going on?"

Lewis recognizes them and rushes to help immediately.

“Lewis, where is the nearest hospital?” He tried to keep calm but looked frantic.

“Sir, it’s this way,” He leads him to the large building that looks like a white farmhouse with a dark blue roof and opens the door for him. He slumps over on his knees, frazzled hair, cuts, scratches, bruises, ash and earth stains.

“Please get her help now!” He pleaded, panting heavily.

The staff saw the critical peril they’re in and helped out straight away.

* * *

Sakura woke up suddenly with her back feeling extremely sore, then realizing she’s in a bed and she sat up slowly looking around. There were white plastic bars on the sides, she’s wearing a hospital gown, looking at her arms in bandages. She couldn’t remember how she got there and realized,

“Ryu-” she called out only to see him with bandages on his arms beside her. “It’s okay I’m here.”

“I-” she looks down in guilt.

“What happened to the mission?”

“I reported the bodies while you were out, they’re retrieving them now,”

“There’s nothing we can do?”

“Sadly, no...”

“I’m sorry I disappointed you,” She frowns and winces knowing she messed up, again.

She felt her pride being shredded right before her eyes. She was supposed to take on these foes despite the adversity, knowing she disappointed her idol once before, and now again, threatening herself and the lives of others around her further cemented herself into guilt.

“No, I should’ve been the one saying that I nearly got you killed-”

“But I was the one that was reckless,”

“You tried your best and you’re ok, that's what matters,” he couldn’t imagine how he would react if she died on the spot.

“You’re alive, no need to risk it.” He hugs her trying to ease her mind, laying her head on his chest. 

“Ryu…” Her emotions got the better of her and she sobbed uncontrollably, tears spilling out, soaking a part of Ryu’s gi top and leaving a dark spot in the process.

“Thank you!” She wrapped her arms around him tightly. 

After a long crying session, Sakura pulls away, eyes becoming red and puffy. 

“Are you feeling better?” Ryu asked gently.

“Yeah...” She wipes the tears off her face and sniffles a bit. 

“We can end today’s training and wait until your wounds heal,”

“Okay,” She responded quietly, still processing the events that happened.

“Can you stand or walk?” He put his hand on her shoulder and she preps up off her bed, fumbling a bit. Ryu caught her by the waist to keep her from falling. 

“Yeah, a little.” She smiled slightly keeping her composure. 

“I got you some spare clothes and your headband,” He hands her some clean, folded up laundry and her red bandana.

“Your other clothes got pretty dirty and bloody, so I got new ones when you were out,”

“Oh, Thank you,” she was baffled by his gestures as of now. 

She walked with a limp to the bathroom to change with Ryu following behind and looking in the mirror. She placed her clothes to the side, holding on to the edges of the sink tensely. She was covered in bandages from her forehead to her legs, the only areas exposed are her face, hair and her feet. She looked like a mess, small scratches and cuts covered with band-aids, mainly from the assault and crying earlier. She unfolded her clothes, unravelling a white, baggy t-shirt and navy blue shorts. Her body felt stiff, limiting her mobility tremendously. 

“Here, let me help you,” He unbuttons the back of her hospital gown and pulls it off over her arms with her red undergarments remaining. This is the most skin he saw on her, even with her covered in bandages, it’s still awkward to see her like this. 

“Gah!” He panics, turns away and closes his eyes, blushing heavily. “Sorry, didn’t mean to-” 

“It’s fine.” She looks at him, arms crossed, embarrassed as he is, turning away and biting her lip. “Just help me get dressed.” 

“Mmhm,” He nods and helps her get her shirt and shorts on, along with her headband. They exit out of the bathroom, gather the rest of their gear and discharge themselves from the hospital. 

“Thank you for helping us,” 

“You’re welcome, dear,” The receptionist at the desk waved, greeting them goodbye.

* * *

They went outside to see the sun starting to set.

Ryu turns to Sakura, “Are you feeling okay?” 

Sakura turns to him to respond, “Better... thank you, again.” She smiled slightly.

“Your welcome.” He smiled in return. 

That was the end of their first day. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank god, They made it out alive. Do you really think I was going to kill off characters right away?
> 
> My god, rearranging these chapters last minute was starting to give me a headache and I was panicking that uploaded a spoiler for this chapter. Hopefully not.
> 
> I’m not the best at writing action scenes so this might’ve felt clunky.


	6. First Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the last part of the day, Ryu and Sakura camp out for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Consistent upload for two chapters, eh? Yep.  
> My goal to get these posted around Valentine's Day (I know, how romantic) and I guess I succeeded, somewhat.  
> Sorry if this is short...-_-;
> 
> This first day was a struggle, especially for the later bit.  
> Why not some light-hearted fluff for a change of pace?

This day was a rough one for the two fighters, between being jumped by raptors, scraping enough to buy items, discovering a crime scene and almost being cooked alive by a dragon, they decided to camp out in the woods for tonight. 

The sun went down, revealing the navy night sky with stars galore. The air grew chillier than expected compared to earlier.

Most of what they have is camping equipment, 2 sleeping bags, an oil lantern, a big blanket, a fishing rod, a dagger, an emergency kit and some matches that Sakura bought from the store with the limited 50 gold she had. 

Ryu and Sakura were gathering wood for the bonfire, Ryu came out with short stubby logs while Sakura gathered many long branches cradled in both her arms. 

“Umm, Sakura, you don’t need a whole lot,” 

“Well for me, there’s nothing better than a big open bonfire to keep us warm at night!” She said cheerfully despite what transpired earlier. “You know just in case.” 

“Yeah, I guess.” 

They gathered it in the fire pit in a tipi formation, lit the match and ignited it by throwing it into the pit.

The flames grew bigger, engulfing the wood as the charred bits of the branches fell into the pit, and emitting embers that then faded into the air. 

Ryu glanced at Sakura, she stared at the campfire in a daze, her legs folded, arms brought close to her chest. Bandages still covering her from head to toe. Ryu, with a little bit of concern, scooted closer towards her. 

“Huh?” Sakura looked at him puzzled. 

“You ok?” 

“Yeah,” 

“You look a little cold.” 

“Well, Just a little,”

Ryu didn’t buy that and offered something instead. He unfolded the blanket, pulled it over him and offered to share it with her. 

“Oh,” She did a double-take, looking at the blanket he hauled over his arm then at him. She felt hesitant but took the offer.

“Thanks,” She never sees him so generous, not until now. She scooted closer towards him inches away from his face and wrapped herself up. She got uneasy and dared not to show it. 

“You ok?” He sensed something off. 

“Yeah, it’s nice to know that I’m not alone.” She leans on his chest with a serene smile. The first time they had close contact with each other, Ryu stares at her blankly, and Sakura looks up and freezes, realizing what she had done. She slowly backs away. 

A bright red hue spread across her cheeks. “Ah, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to-”

He cuts her off. “It’s ok,” He smiles in reassurance. 

“It’s nice to have company once in a while,” As much as he’s fine with being alone, having someone to ground him would help in this situation.  
She smiles back, as long as she’s there to help she’s happy.

“I miss home,” She looks up at the night sky homesick. “I wonder how the others are going to react that we’re gone?”

He looks up too, “They would probably be looking for us,”

“As if you’re travelling around the world or in a different dimension being so hard to track!” In all honesty, it is. 

“Like if you were to chase after me and end up in another world,” 

“Hey!” She elbows him on the side.

“Well, It’s true isn’t it?” 

“Yeah,” she turns away and crosses her arms. 

“I guess you’re right,” only to look back at him with a smirk. They giggle a bit and sighed. This at least lightens the mood for a bit until morning. 

Sakura leans on Ryu again, this time on his shoulder a bit drowsy, closing her eyes. This is the closest she ever was vulnerable to him, besides in emotionally distressing situations. It made her feel warm inside, finally, she isn’t chasing after him like a constant cycle or something that’s on and off. 

Ryu looked at Sakura lightly resting on his shoulder and felt something, (“She looks peaceful when she is resting,”) 

He snaps back realizing he’s caught up in his thoughts and having feelings that he doesn’t understand fully, but there’s something inside that gives him hope. He didn’t remember if he ever felt it before, not with rivals, acquaintances or even some of his friends. Rick asked if they have a “thing”, was it about the connection they have? If you would even call that. Even some of their allies and sworn enemies questioned their bond before, but they both dismissed it. He couldn’t put his finger on it and avoided looking further because of the next few days ahead of them. 

There’s something he has to say to her before they rest for the night. 

“Sakura,”

“Hmm?” She lifted her head groggily.

“I want you to rest for now and train hard once you heal, okay?” 

“All right.” She wished it lasted a bit longer than it did but it would suffice for now. 

She yawns and tucks into her sleeping bag as Ryu does the same, both covered in the shared blanket. 

Both said “good night” and turned the opposite ways.

Sakura was still flustered of what just happened,

(“I should’ve been more in control of my emotions when I did that, that was embarrassing! How much does he see in me, even after all that happened? This time, I won’t disappoint him again!”)

While Ryu wasn’t sure of what to think anymore, 

(“There will be a lot ahead of us, hopefully we can make it out of here, I don’t want to fail her when something bad happens again. Maybe there's more to this fight than I thought,") 

They both closed their eyes and dozed off for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was this an excuse to have them cuddle near a bonfire?  
> Yes! XD 
> 
> I just want cute-ass moments where they bond like bros, act like teammates, (something like the master/student dynamic they have going on, but more casual. I guess they do have that in canon actually) be genuine friends, comforting each other when they need emotional support as one is having a mental breakdown, hug and cuddle many times, save each other lives and lowkey have a 'thing' all at once!  
> And bonus! The rest of the cast lowkey shipping them (mostly Karin ngl) because they look so cute together! >:D
> 
> God, I have such specific tastes...and really impatient for Street Fighter 6. T_T


End file.
